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Much like its upcoming third-person shooter Space Marine, Relic Entertainment has decided to adopt Steamworks for its upcoming Dawn of War 2: Retribution.

In a post on the game's official blog, Relic said that in order to facilitate this platform shift, Dawn of War: Retribution will be a stand alone release. Sadly, because of this decision, content provided in Retribution will not be patched into Dawn of War 2 or Chaos Rising; both of which operate on Microsoft's Games for Windows platform.

Presumably to quell any initial anger towards the decision, Relic revealed that owners of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 and Chaos Rising will have an opportunity to check out the Steamworks-fueled expansion in a multiplayer beta set to arrive in the new year. Details on the beta are expected "at a later date."

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Relic noted the change will allow the company to provide features like "guest passes, free multiplayer weekends, pre-loading and the ability to provide fast turn-around on future patches and updates." Relic's original distribution platform of choice, Games for Windows Live, lacks the ability to hit this particular feature-set.

But don't fret, Warhammer 40,000 fans, Games for Windows Live-powered Dawn of War titles will continue to function normally following the release of Dawn of War: Retribution. You'll just be fighting an old war.